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Former Congressman Mel Reynolds Indicted On Tax Charges

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former Congressman Mel Reynolds has run afoul of the law again, accused of failing to file federal tax returns for four years.

Federal prosecutors allege Reynolds failed to file income tax returns in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. An indictment on tax evasion charges was handed down Thursday.

The indictment does not provide specifics on how much income Reynolds earned in each yea, but federal prosecutors allege his gross income was high enough to be required to file a tax return each year.

If convicted, he faces up to a year in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.

Reynolds, once a Rhodes Scholar and a rising political star, saw his career come crashing down in 1995 after a Cook County jury convicted him of having sex with an underage campaign worker. While behind bars for the sex charges, he was also convicted in federal court on financial and campaign fraud charges, but President Bill Clinton pardoned Reynolds in 2001, and he was released from prison.

He ran for Congress again in 2012, in the special election to replace Jesse Jackson Jr., who resigned amid a federal investigation that eventually led to Jackson pleading guilty to misusing $750,000 in campaign funds. But Reynolds got less than 1 percent of the vote in a crowded Democratic primary.

Last year, Reynolds was arrested in Zimbabwe, for allegedly possessing pornographic images and videos, and violating Zimbabwe's immigration laws. The pornography charges were later dismissed, Reynolds pleaded guilty to the immigration charge, and he was deported from Zimbabwe. He later accused authorities of trumping up the charges against him to discredit him, after he gathered embarrassing information about the Zimbabwe government.

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